Shoulder-Shrugging Randy.

Stat(s) of the Game.

Nothing is free.

The Wizards have attempted a season-low nine free throws two games in a row (losses at Miami and vs. Charlotte), making just six each time. They’ve attempted just nine free throws two other times this season—in a loss to Denver at home and in a win over Oklahoma City in D.C.

More concerning: After an 0-for-2 effort from the line on Wednesday night against Charlotte, John Wall is just 1-for-4 on free throws over the past four games (138 total minutes).

Fourth-quarter runs never sound appetizing. They can be like dropping your pants in a mad dash to the toilet before realizing you are, in fact, in the middle of the food court at the mall, having just gorged yourself with free mystery meat samples on toothpicks.

Al Harrington hit a 3-pointer with 8:30 left in the game, giving the Wizards a 77-75 lead, their first since the two-minute mark in the third period. But Josh McRoberts answered with his own 3-pointer (Drew Gooden barely challenged the shot) and the Bobcats proceeded to go on a 19-3 run, closing the game out on a 23-8 run in total.

We could certainly point to Kemba Walker’s four-point possession as “key”—John Wall committed a perhaps phantom foul on Walker while he was attempting a corner 3-pointer and Randy Wittman proceeded to earn a technical foul arguing the call. Walker made all four free throws, increasing Charlotte’s three-point lead to seven, 87-80.

However, the Wizards, led by Wall, seemingly already determined that they were victims of whistles and thus tried to force the issue more, or play hero ball from afar, instead of working together against Charlotte’s disciplined defense. The Bobcats went 9-for-10 from the line in the final period, outscoring Washington, just 1-for-4 on FTs in the quarter, 29-19 over the final 12 minutes.

John Wall was dominant early with 14 points in the first quarter and 18 points at the half. The jumper was rolling, and he could get anywhere he wanted on the court with ease, as Kemba Walker was having trouble stopping him. Wall led a 13-2 charge in the third quarter that helped give the Wizards their largest lead of the game at six points. Wall was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and missed both of his free throw attempts. Josh McRoberts had same number of assists as Wall (4) and that development will never work out well for the Wizards.

The ‘real’ Council Chair? Probably Al Jefferson.

Poor effort all around, including John Wall and his numbers. But maybe you want to veto Randy Wittman. Charlotte’s stout defense rendered his offense pretty much useless. Of course, ask Randy (and perhaps the eyes of most observers) and the Wizards did a good job rendering themselves useless. The Bobcats anticipated the plays and denied the passes—Wiz Kids and Wiz Vets alike panicked. Trevor Ariza became Lord of the Dribble, picked up two offensive fouls. John Wall tried to be the do-too-much hero, also picked up two offensive fouls and scored just five second-half points, zero in the fourth quarter. Bradley Beal continued to brat around the court, letting his ability to contribute in other areas be adversely affected by his shot not falling. The AARP Plan—Andre Miller, Al Harrington and Drew Gooden— did contribute 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting off the bench (the lone sort-of-bright spot on the evening). Also: Gooden pump faked a midrange jumper and committed an offensive foul himself. Splendid.

Who to veto, who to veto? Let’s go with Trevor Booker and Bradley Beal. Yes, Gortat got son’d by Al Jefferson, but both Booker and Beal really helped set the team defense back. Booker was relatively unseen and unheard during his 24 minutes, but even when hustling, he can’t touch Nene on defense, especially in terms of how Nene can help cover up the subpar perimeter defense of Beal, and sometimes Wall.

Bradley Beal. This honor was chosen by default because there were no other worthy candidates—18 points on 18 shots is not a desirable stat line for Bradley. He appeared to try on defense, and he had a sick dunk that briefly got fans excited.

That session was … a mild bummer.

The surprising storyline of a meaningful March meeting between the Bobcats and the Wizards was set. Unfortunately, it was the Bobcats who made the winning plays down the stretch while the Wizards faltered. Charlotte is no slouch, as they recently throttled the first place Indiana Pacers. These Cats defend, share the ball well, have defined roles, and are playing with sky-high confidence. While Washington’s opponent deserved to triumph on Wednesday night, this was another blown winnable contest to add to the Wizards’ disappointing list. Washington’s offense continues to jack up mid-range shots at a poor rate, and when they do not go in, the outcome is predictable because their lack of free throw attempts do not make up the difference. Don’t ask Randy Wittman about these troubling numbers or you might have to stick it.

Maybe us press in attendance didn’t hit Randy Wittman with hard enough questions after the game. Although the coach essentially defused the room by talking about bad roast beef sandwiches when asked about his technical foul.

Probably had nothing to do with the media. Still, it all seemed too matter-of-fact, the loss after the game, that is. Did the Wizards simply respect Charlotte? Yes, likely. They’re not stupid. You didn’t really sense much frustration in the Wizards locker room after the game—frustration with the refs, definitely. Frustrated with themselves? Didn’t seem to be the case. Although, the entire locker room seemed to be aware of what Brooklyn did in beating Miami, propelling themselves past the Wizards in the standings since mid-November (less than 10 games into the season). Of course, they also couldn’t help but be reminded of the fact through certain lines of media questioning.

Did the loss even get to them? Or are they ‘totally’ there, realizing that with 18 games now to go, their ‘magic number’ is nine. Washington plays Charlotte twice, Orlando twice, Boston twice, and the Kings, Lakers, Nuggets, Hawks, Knicks, and Bucks once each. There’s got to be nine in there somewhere, amongst the six other games versus Brooklyn, Portland, Phoenix, Indiana, Chicago, and Miami.

Maybe, maybe not. Depending on how serious the team takes Ted Leonsis’ goal. Sure, team brass has their finger on the Nene Button as their on-call excuse, but if the Wizards back into the playoffs and find themselves humbly bowing out of the first round to Indiana or Miami, they will have failed the expectations set during the season by their own good play.

Walker: “Yeah, those four free throws were huge and basically [decided] the game right there.”

Jefferson and #WittmanFace.

During his post-game interview, Jefferson had some glowing words for the Wizards’ current head coach, who was his coach for a season and a portion in Minnesota (2007 to 2008).

“Randy Wittman, I played for him in Minnesota, I think he’s doing a hell of a job with this group”, said Jefferson. “He got an All-Star, superstar with John Wall and they got some great players with veteran guys around them. They’re on the rise and I could say the same about us.”

Jefferson and Wittman did not have much team success together in the land of 10,000 lakes, but Jefferson remembered how Randy taught him how to be a professional.

“He really tried his best to help me take my game to the next level. Not only my game, I had talent, but he just really tried to help me be a leader,” gushed Jefferson. “I’ll never forget one time—something that has always stuck with me—I think we played Phoenix and I had like 40 points and 19 rebounds. I called him that night because he had to miss the game because he was having surgery on his back, and I called him that night and said that we beat a great team. He told me that the big key to the win is to go have a great practice (the next day).”

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